Protagonist
Directed by: Jessica Yu
2007

Jessica Yu’s ‘Protagonist’ incorporates just as much whimsical fancy and artistry as her feature length debut, ‘In the Realms of the Unreal’, a film that looked at the literary work of an outsider genious and how he incorporated elements of his life into his stories. Protagonist takes the opposite approach, applying the literary conventions of the anti-hero, as inspired by Greek drama, to four real life subjects; a German terrorist, a bank robber, a kung fu enthusiast and a gay evangelical minister. Reminscent of Errol Morris’ ‘Fast, Cheap and Out of Control’, these seemingly unrelated stories aren’t so different after all. The four men, shaped by childhood experiences, ultimately face self-reflective, eye opening epiphanies that seem to parallel eachother quite closely. Yu’s puppet show interludes are an interesting way to connect these stories together, referencing the Greek drama that’s thematically present throughout the film. The interviews themselves are engaging and well shot, mostly relying on stock footage and photographs to recreate their stories. I guess the puppet stuff could be a touch pretentious, but under these circumstances I thougt it worked. An interesting watch that manages to entertain and enlighten.